Flexible roller for safety attachment on motor-cars.



No. 778,200. PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

' B. LEV. FLEXIBLE ROLLER FOR SAFETY ATTAGHMENTS'ON MOTOR CARS.-

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 1. 1903. RENEWED MAY 6, 1904.

e A flag EMT/ 55 W A A UNITE STATES latented December 20, 1904.

PATENT I OFFICE.

BENJAMIN LEV, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TOAMERICAN SECURITY AND TRUST COMPANY, TRUSTEE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OFCOLUMBIA, A CORPORATION.

FLEXIBLE ROLLER FOR SAFETY ATTACHMENTS ON MOTOR-CARS- SPEGIFIGATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 778,200, dated December 20, 1904.

Application filed August 1, 1903. Renewed May 6, 1904.. SerialNo.'206,6'98.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN LEV, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, havein vented'certain new and useful Improvements in Flexible Rollers forSafety Attachments on Motor-Cars; and I do declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention has reference to a flexible roller for safety attachmentson motor-cars; and the inventionconsists in a rollerwhich is adapted towork at the front of a safety attachment and serves as the strikingmember of the attachment, so that When a person who may be upon thetrack is struck the first contact or blow is through or upon thisflexible or yielding member and which is so constructed as to cushionthe blow and not produce injurious results.

In the accompanying drawings, Figurel is a side elevation of my improvedattachment with the roller in position at the front. 2 is a longitudinalsectional viewin plan of the roller, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged view insection of the ends of the roller with the middle portion broken away.

As thus shown the roller comprises a flexible tube A, preferably ofrubber, which may be made up more or less as rubber hose, with thisdifference, that the body of the rubber comes upon the outside at theplace of wear, while the canvas or cloth upon which the rubher isgrounded comes more upon the inside of the tube. a

B represents a pivoted carrier in the safety attachment, supported uponarms O and provided with extensions 6, in which the shaft D, carryingthe roller, is supported. This shaft is shown as a threaded rod of asuitable size, and the roller-tube A is of a size in crosssection to bekept apart from said shaft the entire length thereof, except at theends, so as to afford a good cushioning-surface across to side.

Fig.

It is not intended that an attachment of this kind should run upon theroad-bed; but it is designed to be carried at more or less elevationfrom the bed or surfacesay, three to six inches-so as to avoid runningcontact; but experience has shown that there is danger of the rollerstriking the surface of the track at times, especially with unevenroads, and in such cases the roller would be subjected to injury if itwere not especially protected. To this end I have formed an annular ribor riding rim or tread a upon each end of the roller of such depthrelatively that when the road bed or surface is struck these ribs ortreads will make the contact and protect the body of the roller frominjury. Preferably I form these ribs also of rubber; but-I might makethem of a different material, if preferred.

The rubbertube A is secured upon shaft D by intervening cylindricalblocks E and E, and the block E is so secured as not to bemovablelongitudinally on the shaft while block E engages the threaded portionof the shaft, and the construction at'this end is such and the threadsare so placed upon the shaft that in case of rotation by the ribs astriking the road-bed the tendency will be to run the block out upon thethread, thus keeping the tube stretched. However, there necessarily is alimit to this movement of block E to prevent wedging of roller A betweenits supports, and to this end I have placed a cotterpin G through theshaft to limit the movement of the' block outward.

The roller-tube A is made up as a special article adapted for this useonly, and if'it becomes unserviceable for any cause it can be 5 replacedby a new one. I

The annular rib or rim a serves to protect the heads of the nails whichfasten tube A upon blocks EE and prevent the heads from wearing off andreleasing tube.

The wear is greatest at the point where the rubber tube is backed up atthe ends by blocks E E, and it is here more than any other place whereanannular rib is required. Afurthcr advantage of locating rib a at andaround blocksE E is in the stiffness italfords to tube A at the pointWhere it is fastened by the nails to said blocks, thereby preventing therubber from stretching and being cut by the nails When under the tensionas it is normally.

What I claim is 1. As a new article of manufacture, a rubber tube forsafety attachment on motor-cars having an annular integral rib abouteach end thereof, substantially as described.

2. A safety attachment for motor-cars,comprising a pivoted carrier, astriking member on said carrier consisting of a rubber tube having anannular bearing of rubber upon each end thereof projecting beyond thesurface of the tube, and a shaft upon which the tube is mounted,substantially as set forth.

3. The carrier and the roller thereon, comprising a shaft supported atits ends on the carrier, arubber tube stretched over said shaft andmeans on the shaft to limit the tension to which the roller may bestretched, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

BENJAMIN LEV.

Witnesses:

R. B. Mosnn, R. ZBORNIK.

